Just days before a new carbon tax starts, residents of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality are facing a municipal tax hike of 3.5 per cent.
The vote was split with six councillors voting in favour of the increase and six voting against. The tie was broken by the mayor, who voted in favour of the hike.
CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill said council had to decide on whether to reduce some services or raise taxes in order to pass the budget.
“It breaks my heart. It's an incredibly difficult decision to make,” McDougall-Merrill said.
The mayor said the municipality isn't getting its fair share of funding from the province and out of the $15 million it receives, more than $22 million is sent back to the provincial government to pay for services.
“Essentially that is a slap in the face when you're coming to a municipality saying you're going to increase the amount of money you paid to us, but we are not here to help you with your day-to-day operations and the investment you need to make our communities have equitable and reliable services,” said McDougall-Merrill.
The CBRM already has some of the highest residential taxes in the country.
“The residents that we talked to prior said they can't afford another tax increase, so sometimes you have to listen to what the residents are saying,” said Gordon MacDonald, CBRM councillor.
“I don't think the timing was right for a tax increase. Our residents are struggling as it is,” MacDonald said.
Nova Scotia’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, John Lohr, said the government provided the CBRM with an extra $18 million over the last two years.
“Other municipalities may disagree with them. I fully recognize the challenges of CBRM. We're working with them,” said Lohr
Despite the dispute between the two levels of government, it’s the residents who are paying the price.
